Nicko McBrain's New New Kit Cymbals and Heads

He played a Ludwig 402 Supra-Phonic snare from 1975 through at least 2012.

Didn't he start using a Sycamore shelled Premier drum at that point? It might have been the Aces High drum (shell finished in Spitfire style livery) & the name "Nicko's Sicko" is stuck in my head for some reason. It might have been an entirely different Sycamore shelled drum.
 
Some of his cymbals really hang over his toms. He must be a very accurate hitter. I'd find that difficult.
I love so much Nicko ! --- I liked Clive Burr too.
Thanks to Nicko I fell in love with the Premier Signia back in the 90's.

His new kit is incredible; the copper hardware is stunning. BDC make very nice drums, unaffordable though.
I'm very surprised by the shell thickness ? 10 plies for the toms and 23 plies for the bass drum ? Did I get that correct ? Gosh. The whole kit must weight a ton !

It's a great move from Nicko to go for Code skins, the company is really new, Nicko is very british and favours British companies.

yep...same here re Clive. Those 2 are huge influences in my musical life.

My ride cymbal lays over my 3rd tom in my 3up/1down set up because of Nicko...and sometimes I set up my 8" tom "high" above my other two toms in honor of Clive

And he'd have been well within his rights to slag the Premier management (not Keith and the builders) off at the point when he went back to Sonor, it was at the point when Premier started to completely fall apart. It's a measure of him that he didn't do so.

yep...but again, he is above that kind of interaction. He probably saw the Premeir thing happening long before it blew up, and decided t hat it was their world to figure out, and that his input was better kept private, and (probably) positive. He doesn't need negative press to get attention!!
 
Hi all

This video got prodded into my feed this morning. It doesn't seem that long ago that Nicko McBrain released a couple of kit videos showing us the artwork and features of his new British Drum Company kit but here he is with his Senjutsu inspired kit. Interesting work has been done on his hardware and cymbals, the big thing I noticed straight away were the new drumheads. I thought they were black with a dot but I think it was due to the drums black interior and me watching on a phone, but he's left Remo and gone with the smaller British company Code. Interesting

I thought he said he is still with Remo but had those heads made custom for him... Might need to re-watch the video..
 
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I never cared much for Iron Maiden, but Nico is such a likable guy. He seems so down to earth, still going strong at 70!
I dare say just as strong as Tommy Aldridge, for proof try playing Aces High with a single pedal (like he does) all the way through, now after doing that, acknowledge that it is only one song in a possible 30-40 songs he has to play for the night. You have to be fit to be able to do that and not run out of gas within the first 20 min.
 
I thought he said he is still with Remo but had those heads made custom for him... Might need to re-watch the video..

He didn't mention it behind the kit, but in the very end of the video he's in a locker room and explains he's using Code heads and also mentions something else he had forgotten to mention (which in turn i have forgotten what it was hahah)
 
He didn't mention it behind the kit, but in the very end of the video he's in a locker room and explains he's using Code heads and also mentions something else he had forgotten to mention (which in turn i have forgotten what it was hahah)
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Yes it was his move to Code drumheads and he corrected what he'd said in the video about using 15" hi hats, he actually uses 14" hi hats.
 
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Yes it was his move to Code drumheads and he corrected what he'd said in the video about using 15" hi hats, he actually uses 14" hi hats.
Ah yes, that was it! I remember watching that part and thinking 'ah cool, looks like he switched to 15" hats' only for it to be addressed in the end haha
 
I'm just plain old jealous, he can call the guys he endorses and goes I want this and they just do it.

I've heard from all who've met him he's a really nice bloke too.
 
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Those code heads look to use “doughnuts” rather than “dots”, just like Premier used to make for their own kits. That’s a nice touch for those of us who are old school Premier fans.
 
I'm just plain old jealous, he can call the guys he endorses and goes I want this and they just do it.

I've heard from all who've met him he's a really nice bloke too.
I could be wrong but I heard he’s a major investor in BDC.
 
He played a Ludwig 402 Supra-Phonic snare from 1975 through at least 2012.

This isn't correct and I think the interviewer misunderstood him (and given that he's listed it as a 5.5" in the gear section it doesn't seem the most accurate article ever). He certainly used a 402 in the 70s and very early 80s but during his time with Sonor and Maiden he used Sonor snares live and in the studio, including one of the very few HLD 592 cast bronze 6.5 snares made and a variety of others. During his time with Premier he used a mix of Premier snares, including a 5.5" sycamore drum that was his signature snare. The 402 was only used again for one album and tour in 2012/3. Since then he's used Sonor snares again and obviously now the BDC snares that he's helped to design.
 
I could be wrong but I heard he’s a major investor in BDC.
He's not on their books as anything and from the financials he doesn't own a significant stake (ie more than 25%), there are two major shareholders, neither is him, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if he's put some money in. He also owns one of the bigger drum shops in the UK.
 
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great guy, met him before and hes so friendly! not very tall either!!

also, code are a UK based company, but their heads are made in china & taiwan, but to codes exact requirements and specifications, theyve come on leaps and bounds since i last tried them, the coating was super powdery when i had a coated snare batter and they dented easily. now theyve come on amazingly! :)
 
I have never heard of a situation where he was cast in a bad light. "He plays every show like he is 24 and on the first big tour of his life.
I got the chance to meet him at NAMM in 2018 & he was THE coolest guy there. Made every attempt to greet his fans, talk about drums & just want to generally hang.
Paiste reps had to keep steering him to other people as they came up to the area just so everyone could get a chance to see him.

Class act all the way.
 
I got the chance to meet him at NAMM in 2018 & he was THE coolest guy there. Made every attempt to greet his fans, talk about drums & just want to generally hang.
Paiste reps had to keep steering him to other people as they came up to the area just so everyone could get a chance to see him.

Class act all the way.

lucky!!!

I would love to meet him, even for a secons, and let some of his vibe rub off on me
 
I'm afraid I have to say it- did not like this kit as much as the one that came before it.

Don't get me wrong, it's awesome and everything but IMO Eddie is kind of buried in the blackness of the shells and the copper-dipped stands (while different/ cool/ etc) just look kind of rusty to me.
 
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